Area labor groups issue endorsements

With less than 10 weeks until Election Day, major area unions on Monday released their slate of endorsements after an annual Labor Day breakfast in Benicia.

An eye cast away from most Vacaville Unified trustee incumbents, the Vacaville Teachers Association officially threw its support behind only three of nine candidates: Deloris Roach, a small-business owner; and incumbent Michele "Shelley" Dally, a longtime public school educator, each seeking a four-year term; and Vacaville police officer Shawn Windham, who seeks a two-year term.

The 600-member union did not endorse three incumbents. They are public school advocates David McCallum and Whit Whitman, whose posts are four-year terms; and Chris Flask, a strategic planner at Genentech, who is being challenged by Windham. The VTA also did not endorse three candidates essentially running on a shared platform of classroom-centered decision-making, transparency and school safety: Jeremy Jeffreys, Judi Ruggiero, both area educators; and Tracee Stacy, the publisher of Prime Time Living magazine and a VUSD volunteer.

Moira McSweeney, VTA president, also said the union supports Measure A, the $194 million bond that seeks to upgrade aging district campuses and improve access to 21st-century technology.

Mirroring the VTA endorsements, the Napa-Solano Central Labor Council and the Napa Solano Building and Construction Trades Council threw their support behind Roach, Dally and Windham and Measure A.

Jon Riley, executive director of the Fairfield-based CLC, issued endorsements for a spate of area and state races and two congressional races:

Incumbent Vacaville City Councilman Ron Rowlett got the unions' nod for his bid to become mayor. Also receiving support were incumbent City Councilman Mitch Mashburn and Cara Fox.

In the Dixon City Council race, the labor and trade unions endorsed incumbents Dane Besneatte and Thom Bogue.

For Fairfield City Council, incumbent Harry Price got a favorable nod, as did Scott Tonnesen.

Jan Davenport and Amit Pal received endorsements for their Suisun City Council races.

The unions did not recommend anyone for the Solano County supervisorial race in District 3, the Fairfield seat.

In the Fairfield-Suisun Unified trustee race, incumbent David Isom earned the labor and trade councils' endorsements.

In the 11th Assembly District contest, incumbent Assemblyman Jim Frazier, D-Solano, received a nod.

In a statewide race, Tom Torlakson, superintendent of public instruction for California, received the unions' endorsements.

Incumbent Reps. John Garamendi and Mike Thompson, both D-Solano, earned endorsements for their congressional races.

Coveted by elected officials and newcomers to the political process, the endorsements typically translate into campaign cash and expense payments, such as advertisements.

The Labor Day breakfast, held at the Iron Workers Hall on Bayshore Road, featured several keynote speakers, among them, Garamendi, Thompson, Torlakson, Frazier; state Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Solano; and Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada, D-Solano.